Standards and Disciplines

"A new report offers a "bleak picture" of the state of state science standards across the nation, with just over half earning a grade of D or F. Among the 10 states to receive a failing grade were Idaho, Oregon, and Wisconsin. (See the full list below.)"

"Georgia teachers are starting to get schooled on the new Common Core State Standards that roll out in the nation's math and English/language arts classes as early as next year."

"What is the framework? A Framework for K-12 Science Education identifies the key scientific practices, concepts and ideas that all students should learn by the time they complete high school. It is intended as a guide for those who develop science education standards, those who design curricula and assessments, and others who work in K-12 science education."

"To be college and career ready, students need to be able to read sufficiently complex texts on their own and gather evidence, knowledge, and insight from those texts. These close reading exemplars intend to model how teachers can support their students as they undergo the kind of careful reading the Common Core State Standards require. Each of these exemplars features the following: i) readings tasks in which students are asked to read and reread passages and respond to a series of text dependent questions; 2) vocabulary and syntax tasks which linger over noteworthy or challenging words and phrases; 3) discussion tasks in which students are prompted to use text evidence and refine their thinking; and 4) writing tasks that assess student understanding of the text."

"When teachers understand what makes texts complex, they can better support their students in reading them. How is reading complex text like lifting weights? Just as it's impossible to build muscle without weight or resistance, it's impossible to build robust reading skills without reading challenging text. The common core state standards in language arts treat text difficulty as akin to weight or resistance in an exercise program. This is in contrast to most past discussion of this topic, which emphasized how overly complex text may impede learning. Such discussion therefore focused on developing various readability schemes and text gradients to help teachers determine which books might be too hard for their students. The new standards instead propose that teachers move students purposefully through increasingly complex text to build skill and stamina."

"I was just given a copy of the GaDOE's Curriculum Maps for ELA 9-12th grades. I need some help from you before I quit my job and lead the charge for every other high school English teacher to do the same. I have taught for many years, am am good at my job, am an asset to the school at which I teach, and love teaching."

"Welcome to Inside Mathematics, a professional resource for educators passionate about improving students' mathematics learning and performance. This site features classroom examples of innovative teaching methods and insights into student learning, tools for mathematics instruction that teachers can use immediately, and video tours of the ideas and materials on the site. We are glad you're here and look forward to learning with you!"

14 Modules to aid teachers in learing the thinking required to be involved in the 8 Standards for Mathematical Practices. Free and downloadable.

"t's Crazy Hair Day at Marshall Elementary School in Boston's Dorchester neighborhood-which is perfect, because Tufts University researcher Bárbara Brizuela has brought a hat. In the stovepipe style and made from oaktag paper, the hat is one foot tall. Brizuela then asks, "If I'm five and a half feet tall, how tall will I be with the hat on?" Second-grader Jasmine, smiley in a pink sweatsuit, answers, "Six and a half feet." Rather than say, "Right!" Brizuela offers another question: "How do you know?""

White Paper

"When the word creativity is used, the left side of my head begins to hurt. Now why would that happen? Let's see, could be the years of exposure to right and left brain mumbo jumbo?"

HHJ MTTC PP Handout 2012

"After decades of collaborating to increase child language vocabulary, Betty Hart and Todd Risley spent 2 1/2 years intensely observing the language of 42 families throughout Kansas City. Specifically, they looked at household language use in three different settings: 1) professional families; 2) working class; 3) welfare families. "

"I've always struggled with calculating students' participation grades. I have experimented with rubrics for students to fill out for themselves, or ways for them to track their participation grades daily or weekly. I've tried ditching it altogether and just grading students for distinct speaking activities. "

"Participants in the Guidelines for Assessment and Instruction in Statistics Education (GAISE) project have created two reports of recommendations for introductory statistics courses (college level) and statistics education in Pre-K-12 years. "

Standards 1-4's skills sets

"Curriculum 21: Common Core Crosswalks" Great resources for the ongoing conversations, collaborations, and curriculum mapping decision making educators are involved in during the transitioning from state standards to the common core state standards.

By Dr. Bena Kallick "The recent report from the Center on Education Policy (PDF) provides a perspective on the key issues districts will need to deal with as they make a transition from their present work based on state standards to the common core standards."

"The Curriculum Framework specifies what is to be taught for each subject in the curriculum. In Pennsylvania, Curriculum Frameworks include Big Ideas, Concepts, Competencies, and Essential Questions aligned to Standards and Assessment Anchors and, where appropriate, Eligible Content. "

Video of Doug Reeves discussing Common Core State Standards CCSS. He discusses political realities, strengths, weakness, and his center's (Learning and Leadership Center) responses.